If you have a barky dog and have successfully reduced barking.. how?!

[bolognazey]

I’m at my wits end.

I have a lovely little Havanese. She is almost 2. She is just a very vocal dog and it’s really becoming a struggle.

She barks:

1. in guard dog fashion e.g. When someone is at the door or window
2. to welcome us home if we have been out (even if we have been out for only 1 minute!)
3. sometimes when she sees people or dogs on walks (she goes to doggy daycare so if good with other dogs.. I think these barks are because she wants to play?)
4. when she is excited e.g when playing
5. when people come round the house (this one is the worst!) she just won’t calm down

its not always barking as such but high pitched excited whiney noises that pierce your ears.

SHe is a smart dog in so many ways and excelled when we did a puppy training course, learning commands very quickly. She is great in the car, never pulls on the lead and walks to heel brilliantly. But she’s just so loud.

Does anybody have a similar dog and have managed to control the barking? I would really appreciate any tips.

thank you

Do you have a word for no? My dog knows 'ah ah' as don't do that. When she barks and i dont want it, I use this. For example, she barks when excited to play and for me to throw the ball/frisbee for her. She barks - i say 'ah ah' and wait until she's stopped barking before throwing it.
Basically give her the reward only when she's quiet.

If she barks when you come home, wait until shes quiet to stroke/fuss her
If people come around and she's barking, put her in a crate/other room until shes calm and then let others stroke her

etc
etc

My dog is part havanese and they can be barky little things! good luck.

The theory is to reward when quiet, marking the quiet with something like 'quiet - YES', so they start to associate the word and the action with a nice thing. Don't give a lot of attention when you come through the front door, and only interact when they're calm. Don't let them see out of the window to bark.

ChenDog failed all the above training that I've spent hours/days doing with him over the years and he doesn't GAF. It's easing off now thankfully, but he's still a shouty wee thing when the mood takes him.

Please don't, whatever you do, use a bark collar though.

We have 2 dogs, a barky breed. What has worked for us is telling them off, every single time. The second one starts, I say ‘NO!’. Also, and I don’t know how I’ve done this, one of them will ‘whisper bark’ if I tell him to. This is basically making huffing noises instead of barking.

My dpuppy learned Sit Quiet very quickly.. simply say and repeat when they are actually sat quietly !
Film over the window so they cant see out.

And put a baby gate over the kitchen door. When you get home do not engage with ddog at all until they are sat at the gate quietly. And fuss you turn your back and don't engage. Again all my ddogs have learned this fast.
Tbh your ndn must bloody hate you.

Watching

Thank you. To be honest she struggles to understand the word ‘no’.. it’s like she hasn’t figured out what no means. It’s also hard because she barks so loud she drowns me out.

Thanks. I have tried the not giving attention when we get home but she can bark for ages before calming down. I need to start that again and stick with it.

Whisper barking is brilliant.

We have been trying to teach ‘quiet’ but I worry she sometimes gets confused because if we say ‘quiet’ after a bark and she is quiet, she gets a treat. But I worry she thinks she is being rewarded for the bark…

haha luckily we are in a detached house and our neighbours in both sides are out at work all day (I work from home). i never let her bark in the garden I will always make her come inside if she barks in the garden.

I've just shown your post to ChenDog and pointed out that other dogs have managed to follow the instructions that I have been teaching him for years. He opened one eye, looked at me as if to say 'so what', then closed it again and went back to his pre-bedtime nap.

I’d look at things more holistically to start with. She sounds very smart and has also perhaps not learnt to settle properly.
In active minded dogs, this combination often has the effect of them ‘finding employment’ if you don’t mental stimulate them adequately, plus teach the little horrors how to actually down tools for a bit. So you end up with a dog constantly on edge and running on adrenaline. Cue overreaction to every last damn thing!

Spray them with water from a spray bottle once they enter a barking jag. It won’t hurt them and they’ll soon make the connection.

My dpuppy learned Sit Quiet very quickly.. simply say and repeat when they are actually sat quietly !
Film over the window so they cant see out.

And put a baby gate over the kitchen door. When you get home do not engage with ddog at all until they are sat at the gate quietly. And fuss you turn your back and don't engage. Again all my ddogs have learned this fast.
Tbh your ndn must bloody hate you. Ij

As a behaviourist I can confidently say……no,don’t

Strange, it worked for seven working labs. All of whom lived in the house and were cuddle bunnies extreme.

It may have stopped the barking, but what displacement behaviours did you have to deal with?

@bolognazey timing is everything along with patience and consistency. There is a lot of good advice here, apart from the water spray.

1. labs are bred as a relatively quiet breed anyway. It’s generally zero effort to dissuade them given what they are bred for
2. seven dogs of one breed is not an appropriate sample size
3. All modern behavioural science disagrees with your ‘advice’

You do you.

Aww, I have a barky guard dog breed... I don't tell them off for barking. No point in trying to fight 100's of years of selective breeding.
However, when they were young and found their voices, I'd check why they were barking and say Thank You... as in either I take it from here or there is nothing to worry about. Nowadays they have a little bark and look at me, I just nod at them, say thank you and carry on whatever I am doing. If someone is at the door or visiting, I just walk to the door, say thank you and send them to their beds.
This level of training/ obedience didn't happen overnight, it's months and months of reassurance that I have it covered and there is nothing to worry about.

I think with barking, you always have to establish the why - in my case a breed trait - and make it work without suppressing natural instincts.